Childhood Trauma and Self-Control: The Mediating Role of Depletion Sensitivity

Previous research demonstrated that childhood trauma was associated with self-control deficit from adolescence to adulthood. However, the underlying mechanism was not well understood. The present study aimed to examine the mediating effect of depletion sensitivity on the association between childhood trauma and self-control. This study recruited a sample of 1415 college students from a large university in China. Participants completed three self-reported scales measuring their traumatic experiences during childhood (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire), their sensitivity to depletion (Depletion Sensitivity Scale), and self-control capacity (Self-Control Scale). The results showed that childhood trauma was positively correlated depletion sensitivity and negatively correlated with self-control, and the link between depletion sensitivity and self-control was also significant. The structural equation model demonstrated that childhood trauma had significantly indirect effects on self-control capacity via depletion sensitivity, which accounted for 50.1% of the total effect and indicated a partial mediation. The present findings suggest that one probable pathway that childhood trauma might affect self-control is through heightened depletion sensitivity. Highlights 1415 Chinese college students completed self-reported scales measuring childhood trauma, depletion sensitivity, and self-control. Depletion sensitivity partially mediated the detrimental effect of childhood trauma on self-control. The overall percentage of childhood traumatic experience was 55.4% among the university student sample. Male participants reported significantly higher levels of physical abuse and physical neglect than female participants.